‘Neighbours constantly heard screams’ from Russian torture chamber

Ukrainian investigators have made a sickening discovery in an area taken back from Russian forces, describing it as “a mini Auschwitz”.

WARNING: Confronting images

Ukrainian investigators have made a horrific discovery in a formerly Russian-occupied village.

Photos from Pisky-Radkivski in the Kharkiv region show a “torture chamber” described by Ukrainian forces a “a mini Auschwitz”.

Among the horrors uncovered were pulled dentures, a gas mask with a smouldering rag, and sex toys.

The disturbing find has chulling echoes to the piles of shoes and clothes left behind by Jews gassed to death in concentration camps by the Nazis during World War II.

“How many more will be found in occupied Ukraine?” Ukraine's Ministry of Defence tweeted.

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Ukrainian investigators described the sickening discovery as evidence of a Russian ‘torture chamber’. Picture: Serhii Bolvinov

Serhii Bolvinov, head investigator of Kharkiv Police, was among the team to make the shocking discovery.

“Neighbours constantly heard screams from there. Investigators found a terrible torture chamber in the village,” he said, translated from Ukrainian.

Among the discoveries were gas masks, pulled dentures and sex toys. Picture: Serhii Bolvinov

“The police are well aware of the torture of being buried alive and the use of a gas mask with a smouldering rag.

“A dildo and a box with torn dentures were also found in the torture chamber.”

He said investigators were aware of the identity of the victims.

The National Police of Ukraine officers documented the alleged war crimes.

Сусіди постійно чули звідти крики. Слідчі знайшли жахливу катівню в с. Піски-Радківські.

Поліції точно відомо про катування закопування в землю заживо та застосування противогазу з тліючою тряпкою.

Також в катівні знайдені фалоімітатор, коробку з вирваними зубними протезами. pic.twitter.com/5HzR882rAf

— Сергій Болвінов (@serhii_bolvinov) October 4, 2022

A statement issued online said the Russians had driven the locals out of their homes, settling there themselves.

“The police found another torture chamber in the cellar, where locals were kept in inhumane conditions. People were intimidated, beaten and abused,” it said.

There was also evidence of live burials, according to Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Ukrainian investigators believe this gas mask was put on the head of a victim who was covered with a smouldering rag and buried alive. Picture: Serhii Bolvinov

“Tortures such as being buried alive and putting a burning rug into a gas mask were reported,” he said.

Recounts of torture at the hands of Russia forces have become common in liberated parts of Ukraine.

A torture chamber in Pisky-Radkivski. 2 photos. A gas mask that was put on the head of a victim who was covered with a smoldering rag and buried alive. And a box of gold dental crowns. A mini Auschwitz. How many more will be found in occupied Ukraine?
Photo @serhii_bolvinovpic.twitter.com/So4glJlt9N

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 4, 2022

In mid-September, in the reclaimed town of Izyum, the mass graves filled with the “tortured” bodies and “entire families” were found in a nearby forest.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed 450 people were buried at the site, in what was one of the biggest discoveries of its kind since the invasion, and one of the biggest mass graves in Europe since the Balkan wars in the 1990s.

“As of today, there are 450 dead people, buried. But there are others, separate burials of many people. Tortured people. Entire families in certain territories,” Zelensky said in the wake of that discovery.

Empty graves after exhumation of bodies in the mass grave created during the Russian's occupation in Izyum, Kharkiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba

The latest discovery comes as Ukraine forces continue to liberate outlying parts of the Kharkiv region as part of a month long counteroffensive which has seen large territorial gains.

With much of Kharkiv now considered reclaimed, Ukrainian forces have reportedly shifted focus to the Russian-occupied Kherson region in the nation’s south east.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 2 that Lyman, a key town located in one of four Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia, had been "cleared" of Moscow's troops. Photo: Anatolii Stepanov / AFP)

The Sun reported on Wednesday that the resistance had “smashed a hole” through Russian defences as they swiftly move on Kherson, the first major city to fall to Russia after the invasion and the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting of the conflict.

Counter-attacking forces recaptured a number of towns and villages on the banks of the Dnipro river on Monday.

Roughly 31 Russian tanks and multiple rocket launchers were destroyed in the rout.

But bigger picture, Zelensky declared yesterday he will no longer attempt peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared peace talks with Vladimir Putin ‘impossible’. Photo: AFP

He did however leave the door open to talks with another Russian leader, should Putin’s reign end before fighting does.

Zelensky signed a decree on Tuesday that formally declared negotiations with the Kremlin autocrat to be “impossible.”

It set in stone comments made by Zelensky on Friday after Putin proclaimed four partially occupied regions of Ukraine to be a part of Russia “forever” – a move Kyiv called an “illegitimate farce”.

“He does not know what dignity and honesty are. Therefore, we are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but with another president of Russia,” Zelensky said on Friday.

Putin, who turns 70 this week, could run for office two more times under constitutional reforms he helped orchestrate, meaning he could potentially remain in office until 2036.

But as his war efforts continue to falter and he loses support among both oligarchs and his own citizens, his time could be cut far shorter than that.